Chris Warwick’s grandfather moved to Hanna in 1918 and his family has remained rooted in the east-central Alberta town ever since.

Along with his son, he runs Warwick’s Home Hardware store in the community of 2,700. His brother is a local dentist.

In short, Warwick is passionate about his hometown. But the mayor of Hanna is growing increasing worried about the uncertain future facing one of the community’s main industries: coal.

Exactly one year ago, the Notley government decided it would phase out all coal-fired electricity generation, the mainstay energy source for Alberta’s power grid, by 2030. On Monday, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna announced Ottawa will pursue a similar national target.

In other words, coal-fired electricity in Canada is coming to an end. Even a change in government provincially wouldn’t alter the path forward.

“I read a little bit about it this morning and went, ‘Oh man, now what do we do?’ ” Warwick said Monday from his store. “It’s another nail in the coffin.”

For Hanna, the coal phase-out will impact the nearby Sheerness mine of Westmoreland Coal. The company sends coal to generating units at the Sheerness generating station, which is operated by ATCO Power.

Combined, the two operations provide about 200 full-time jobs in the area.

Warwick’s main concern is what this will eventually mean for affected employees, their spouses and children. If a chunk of Hanna’s employment base disappears by 2030, that will ricochet around the economy like a rogue bowling pin.

Everything from enrolment in the school district and real estate prices to the municipal tax base would be affected.

That’s why a government transition plan is so important.

The mayor understands why officials in Ottawa and Edmonton want to curb emissions from coal operations. But he’s worried they’re doing so with no clear path forward for communities such as Hanna, or for the people who rely on the sector for a paycheque.

“It just seems to me they’re just making these decisions very quickly, rather than doing any consultation with anybody,” he said.

The NDP government has created a three-person panel to meet with places affected by the coal phase-out, such as Hanna, Forestburg and communities around Parkland and Leduc counties.

It’s expected to consult with affected groups and report back in early 2017.

In last spring’s budget, the province earmarked $195 million over five years from the incoming carbon levy to help ease the transition for communities, workers and indigenous communities.

Provincial Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Monday that Alberta is looking for clarity from Ottawa on what federal investments might also be made to help affected communities, but was clear “there’s no moving back on Alberta’s coal plan.”

Robin Campbell, a former Tory environment minister who is now president of the Coal Association of Canada, notes the sector creates about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Alberta. The average salary for a coal miner is almost $96,000.

“These are good, hard-working people of Alberta,” he said. “If you shut down the coal jobs, where are they going to go?”

The Pembina Institute notes Canada is catching up to countries such as France, Denmark and the United Kingdom, which are phasing out coal-fired electricity.

The federal decision should help the country snare a bigger share of the projected $7.8 trillion that will be invested internationally in renewable energy sources over two decades, according to the environmental think-tank.

“The number of jobs that renewables and energy efficiency bring can replace the jobs from coal,” said the institute’s Sara Hastings-Simon.

But replacing 200 jobs with 10 or 20 long-term positions tied to solar or wind farms isn’t much comfort for local development officials in the Hanna area.

Warwick notes the town hasn’t been able to get the province to help pay for an $80,000 consultant’s report it commissioned to examine what the end of coal means for his town.

“More than anything I would love for them to come to the communities themselves,” he said. “See the people that you’re affecting.”

In the middle of a massive transition, that’s not too much to ask for.

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